The Hub Co-Working in downtown Harrisonburg to become 'The Perch at Magpie'

The Hub Co-Working in downtown Harrisonburg will be re-branded this spring and moved to a new location.

Kirsten Moore, who is the co-owner of The Hub, said it opened in 2015, before there were other co-working spaces in the Shenandoah Valley. She said over time, The Hub in Harrisonburg has been confused with different locations, so she thought it was time for a change.

The new name for The Hub will be The Perch at Magpie. The new space will be on East Gay Street in downtown Harrisonburg in the former Big L Tire building. The space will be a mixed-use space with the Magpie Diner on the first floor.

Moore said the diner will serve breakfast and lunch, and it will have a bread-forward bakery that makes fresh bread for the diner. She said the bread will also be available for purchase.

As far as the name, she said there isn't much meaning behind it, but they liked that it was something different.

"There's a little rhyme that says, 'If you see a magpie, you tip your hat and say "good morning Mr. Magpie" and it brings you good luck,' so kind of that morning, breakfasty kind of thing was a little bit of an appeal," said Moore.

The bottom floor of the space will have the diner, bakery area and Chestnut Ridge Coffee Roasters will rent a space to roast coffee beans. The coffee will be served in the diner and in the co-working space.

The upper floor of the building will be the co-working space. It will have private offices, shared space, conference rooms, and smaller private rooms for those who use the shared space to make phone calls or take conference calls.

"It's really fun to see it coming together and I'm really excited to see what it's going to do for the north end of downtown," said Moore.

The building project is a historic tax credit project, so it will keep the industrial look and feel of the building intact. The garage doors will stay, which will offer open outdoor work and dining space when weather cooperates.

Anyone interested in renting a space for co-working at The Perch at Magpie can email hello@theperchworkspace.com.